The Falco Conspiracy
by Samuel P
Summary: After winning the second Super Smash Bros. Tournament, Falco mysteriously vanishes. Fox, with the help of the Ice Climbers, must fight in the third tournament, Brawl, to discover who or what is behind his disappearance. My first fanfic! Plz review. :D
1. Falco and Fox: Friends Departing

Falco thrust himself off the ground. This was it…One more blow from either him or the Ice Climbers and the Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament would be over. But only one could be victorious. _It's gonna be me_, Falco told himself as he jumped determinedly towards Popo and Nana. They, too, leaped towards Falco. They met in midair; Falco gave the strongest air-kick of his life before the Ice Climbers could get their hit off. Across the stage they flew, wailing a high-pitched scream as Falco smiled triumphantly—if it is possible for a bird to smile. The match was over; the Ice Climbers had lost all of their lives; Falco had won.

After the match, reporters swarmed Falco, pressing him with questions.

"Mr. Lombardi, how does it feel to be the Super Smash Bros. champion?"

"Oh, you know," replied Falco gladly, "I kinda expected it, not to sound prideful or anything."

"Wasn't that last match riveting?" asked another reporter.

"Yeah, I have to admit, those Ice Climbers put up one heck of a fight!" He laughed.

"What do you plan on doing with the prize money?"

"Probably put it in savings or something," Falco replied tentatively. "I don't really need it."

"And you will be coming back next year—of course—won't you?"

"Nah," he replied and the reporter gasped. "I've had my fun…time to move on to bigger and better things."

Falco answered a few more questions, but soon grew bored. As he got up to leave, he noticed Fox. "Hey," Falco said.

"Hey," Fox replied weakly. "Congrats."

"Thanks."

"How 'bout that last battle? Pretty intense."

"I know," Falco agreed. "For a few moments I thought…" He drifted off.

"Thought what?" Fox pressed. "You, Falco Lombardi, thought that you were going to lose?" He laughed.

"Whatever," Falco said as he playfully punched Fox. There was a moment of somewhat awkward silence. "Well," Falco said, "I won't be coming back next year."

"What?" Fox said in disbelief. "Why?"

"Like I told the reporters, I've had my fun. I'm gonna explore the world, make a discovery, do something exciting!" Falco had an adventurous twinkle in his eye as he said this. He looked down at Fox. "But I'll contact you."

"Yeah," Fox said sadly.

_Don't cry…Don't cry…_Falco told himself. Fox was his best friend, and he wasn't going to see him again for who knows how long. It was all he could do to hold back the tears.

"So I guess I'll see ya," Fox said awkwardly.

"See you," Falco replied, with effort resisting the tears that were beginning to well up in his eyes. He shook Fox's hand and ran off into the night, wondering when—or if—he would see his best friend again.


	2. The Ice Climbers' Farewell

The Ice Climbers, like Falco, were also being bombarded with inquiries.

"Do you feel angry at losing when you were so close?"

Popo looked at Nana. She shook her head. "Not at all," she said.

"Nana and I are just happy to have made it this far!" Popo added happily.

"Do you plan on returning to next year's tournament?"

"Oh, definitely! Popo and I had _so_ much fun this year!" said Nana and she gave Popo a high-five.

_"Final Super Smash meeting to be held in the Smash Locker in five minutes!"_ boomed a voice over the PA system. _"Repeat, final Super Smash meeting to be held in the Smash Locker in five minutes!"_

"Ooh, we've gotta go," said Popo. "Come on, Nana."

Ignoring the pleas of the reporters to stay and answer a few more questions, the Ice Climbers ran to the Smash Locker, where the fighters go before a fight, laughing and giggling all the while. Popo led the way to the door and when the guard saw them, they were let in.

The Smash Locker was rather big. It had lockers surrounding the room, and a rather large table in the center. On a wall that was not covered in lockers there was placed a shelf on which sat a picture of last tournament's winner, and now this tournament's winner also. It gave Popo an odd feeling, being in here for the last time until next tournament—which could be in one year, two years, maybe ten years! He had been in here many times in the last month. It gave Nana an incredibly sad feeling and she wasn't ashamed to let the tears fall down her face. Popo looked at her and gave her a warm embrace.

"Oh, look, there's Kirby!" Nana said through her tears, breaking gently away from Popo. She saw him sitting in a chair at the end of the table, his adorably dopey face smiling with happiness. "Hi Kirby!" They rushed to sit on either side of him.

"Poyo, poyo!" Kirby said. He looked immensely happy to see them. He was so adorably pink. Nana could not believe that she was going to have to be away from him until the next tournament. She gave in to the urge to pick him up and squeeze him. She squeezed hard, affectionately, but he let out a yelp of pain and she let go.

"I'm so sorry, Kirby," she said apologetically. "I didn't mean to hurt you; I'm just gonna miss you so much!"

"Pyoo, oh," Kirby said forgivingly as he patted her on the back.

"ATTENTION!" thundered a voice. Popo and Nana had not noticed that the table was already filled with all the fighters. It was difficult to grasp that the Ice Climbers would not see any of them until the next tournament: Mario…Luigi…Princess Peach…Mr. Game & Watch…Princess Zelda…Ness…Fox…. _But wait,_ Popo thought to himself, _where's Falco?_

His question was answered by the Smash Announcer, the person who had called everyone to attention. The Smash Announcer had never been seen by any of the fighters, and he led the meeting unseen, behind the shadows.

"As you may have noticed," he said in his booming voice, "our champion Falco is not here. Unfortunately, he did not know that we were having this last meeting and has already gone."

This was met by both groans and cheers.

"Now, now," the Announcer calmed everyone down. "We've had a good year…quite a few more people than last year. I hope that everyone had as good of a time as I had and I hope that you all come back next year."

Popo wondered how someone who is never seen could have a good time; Nana was too busy crying to wonder anything except when she would see her friends again.

"Though not all of you won, you all showed great effort and hard work and I applaud each and every one of you. Good show, everyone!" He began to clap slowly, and soon everyone had followed suit. Popo and Nana slipped off their gloves and clapped as loudly as they could. They could especially hear Bowser, smacking his hands together distinctly. It was quite an emotional scene for both of them, Nana especially, as they gazed around at all the people that they would be leaving.

The applause when on for about a minute. Popo looked at Nana.

"Aw, Nana," he said sympathetically, "you look like Niagra Falls."

She laughed a sad laugh and wiped her eyes.

"Safe journey home, everyone!" said the Smash Announcer and he vanished from sight.

"Oh, Kirby, I'll miss you," said Nana as she again squeezed him—not quite as hard as before.

"Yeah, we'll see you at the next tourney," Popo said, patting him on the head.

"Bye-bye," replied Kirby, pouncing on them both affectionately.

Laughing, the Ice Climbers arose. "We'll write," said Nana.

"Or at least we'll try to," interjected Popo. "It might be kinda hard to deliver the letter since we live by the North Pole and you live on Pop Star."

"Poyo!" nodded Kirby, showing that he understood.

Popo and Nana said goodbye to all of their friends: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Donkey Kong, Zelda, Ness, Yoshi, Jigglypuff, Pikachu, Pichu, and Mr. Game & Watch; waved goodbye, but did not say anything, to the people who had been somewhat friendly but had not become close: Link, Marth, Roy, and Samus; and they completely ignored the rude ones: Bowser, Mewtwo, Gannondorf, and Captain Falcon.

Slowly, emotionally, thoughtfully, they picked up their bags and exited the building.

"Well, we're off home," said Popo.

"Yeah," Nana said softly. "I can't wait until the next tournament…"

"Yeah, but I wonder what happened to Falco."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see at the next tournament," said Nana. "But for now…home!"


	3. The New Tournament

**About a year-and-a-half later…**

Fox was worried. It had been more than a year since the departing of him and Falco, yet Fox had not heard anything from him. _Probably too busy making some important discovery…_he told himself. But he could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. Horribly wrong. _It's just my imagination getting the best of me_; _besides, I have other things to worry about._ The third Super Smash Bros. tournament was about to be held, and Fox had—of course—received an invitation. He had been training hard these past few weeks and now was getting ready to head off in his Arwing. But he could not stop thinking about Falco. Fox had contacted everyone he could think of to see if they had heard anything about Falco, but every one of them was just as much in the dark as Fox was. It all just seemed strange…in a horribly ominous way.

Fox decided to set his thoughts about Falco aside as he focused on the task ahead: the Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament. He wondered what newcomers there would be….He was sure it would be more difficult than the last and was determined to win this one. He had watched and re-watched tapings of the previous tournament's matches in hopes of learning his opponents' moves and correcting the mistakes he had made last time. He felt a mixture of nervousness and excitement as he stepped into his Arwing and zoomed off into the sunlit sky.

As Fox landed his flying vehicle in the Smash Garage, another hope occurred to him. _Maybe Falco has changed his mind about coming to this tournament!_ It was a long shot, but maybe…just maybe…

Fox leaped out of the Arwing hopefully and jumped out of the way just in time as Kirby came crashing in on a warpstar.

"Pohoo," said Kirby apologetically. He looked dazed.

"It's okay…good to see ya again, buddy," said Fox as he rubbed Kirby's head affectionately. Kirby giggled and floated away in the direction of the dormitory. Fox waited. He didn't want to go to the dormitory just yet. He looked around the garage for another Arwing in case Falco had already arrived. Not seeing one, he sighed in dismay.

"Might as well head up to the dormitory," he said to himself. "Maybe Falco will show up later…"

Fox was excited to see his friends again and to meet the new fighters. He found his way to the dormitory meeting room, where all the fighters met before being assigned to a room.

"Link!" he said, seeing the green-clad swordsman.

"Oh, hey Fox," Link replied.

"Hello, Princess Zelda; love the new looks, you guys!" said Fox, seeing that both of them looked quite a bit different from the last tournament.

"You don't look quite the same, either!" commented Zelda. Fox smirked.

"Oh!" Zelda exclaimed. "There's Peach! Nice to see you again, Fox." Zelda scampered off to catch up with her fellow princess.

"So…have you met any of the newcomers?" asked Link.

"Nope; I just got here. Who are they?"

"Well, there are only a couple so far," replied Link. "That's Pit." He pointed to a winged boy carrying some kind of bow. He looked very much like an angel.

"And that guy over by Pikachu and Jigglypuff is known only as the Pokémon Trainer," said Link, pointing to a simple-looking boy.

"Pokémon Trainer?"

"Yeah, he's being allowed to carry three Pokémon: Charizard, Ivysaur, and Squirtle."

"Jeez," said Fox. "He's gonna be tough to beat."

They chatted for a while, talking about how their lives had been since they had last spoken.

"Yeah. Well, good to see ya, man; I've gotta go catch up with Mario," said Link at last

"Hey, Link, hold on a sec," Fox said as Link began turning around. "Is Falco here?"

Link turned to face him. "Haven't seen him. Didn't he say he wasn't coming?"

"Well, yeah, but I thought maybe he changed his mind."

"Well, I haven't seen him."

"Yeah, thanks," Fox sighed as Link hurried to talk with Mario. Fox gazed around the room. He recognized many people from last tournament: Mario, Luigi, Samus, Yoshi, the Ice Climbers…All of them looked busy talking except the Ice Climbers. _Wouldn't mind talking to them_, Fox thought to himself. He sauntered over to them.

"Hey Popo; hey Nana," he said.

"Oh, hi Fox," said Nana, smiling.

"Excited about this tournament?" asked Popo.

"Yep," replied Fox simply.

"So how's Falco been doing?"

"Yeah, we were a little worried at the last tournament when he disappeared before the meeting," said Nana.

"I dunno; I haven't spoken to him since last tournament. I was hoping that he would've changed his mind and come to this one."

"That's weird….You're, like, his best friend, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Fox replied worriedly. "Yeah, it is weird…"

Suddenly there was a loud crash. Fox heard a scream coming from Peach. He turned to see what had made the noise and noticed that Bowser had broken down the door into the room. Fox saw that the guards outside the door were knocked out.

"Rrrraughhh!" Bowser roared. "Miss me, everyone?" Everyone in the room was silent, many of them glaring angrily at the King Koopa. He laughed and stomped into the room. "I have a good feeling about this tournament!" he bellowed. "I lost last time to that birdbrain Falco, but this year _I WILL WIN_!" He yelled this so loudly that Fox and many others in the room covered their ears. Bowser stomped, grinning—with everyone staring at him, annoyed—to a newcomer that must have come in while Fox had been conversing. This newcomer looked something like a fat duck with a short bill.

"Who's that duck guy?" Fox whispered.

"That's King Dedede, Kirby's enemy," Popo whispered back.

"Thank you for that…excessive…entrance, Bowser," said a voice that Fox recognized as the Smash Announcer's. "And now I believe we have all of our fighters. Welcome, newcomers, and welcome back, veteran fighters. I trust that we will have an exciting tournament this time 'round. Please stand up, newcomers, and let me introduce you and assign you your dormitory rooms. Pit, will you please come forward."

Pit looked a bit confused as to _where_ to come forward as the Smash Announcer was hidden from sight, but he stepped a bit away from the others.

"Pit, you are sharing a room with Snake….Snake, will you also please come forward."

At those words, a rough, mean-looking man stepped towards Pit. Pit looked nervous as Snake let out a bit of a snarl at him.

The Smash Announcer continued naming off people and their dorms. Finally he said, "Fox." Fox stepped forward. "You will be sharing with the Ice Climbers, Popo and Nana. Room number ten."

Fox grinned at them and gave them both a high-five.

"…And now," said the Smash Announcer after he had named off everyone, "you may all go to your rooms and make yourselves comfortable. And may we have an amazing tournament!"


	4. The Suspicious Conversation

Fox followed the Ice Climbers into their dormitory room. As the door opened, he beheld the place that was to be his bedroom for the next few weeks. It was very plain, and somewhat small. There was a single bed on the left side and a bunk bed on the right and a door that led to the bathroom in the very back. Popo and Nana giggled happily as they rushed into the room and tossed their bags onto the bunk bed.

Fox dragged his heavy bag into the room, threw it atop the single bed, and collapsed onto the soft mattress, his head softly hitting the immensely comfortable pillow. He gazed at the ceiling, listening to the Ice Climbers frolicking, consumed by concerns about Falco. He could hear Peach and Zelda giggling uncontrollably through the walls.

"Fox, we're gonna go explore," said Popo. Fox did not even have time to reply as Popo dashed out the door and down the hall, followed very closely by Nana.

Popo and Nana were greatly happy to be back at the Super Smash tournament. They were too excited to go to unpack their bags and go to sleep. They wanted to revisit the places that they, for a few weeks, had called home. Laughing joyously, the Ice Climbers ran down the hall.

"I bet I'll beat you to the kitchen!" Popo challenged. Nana smiled slyly and ran faster, accepting the challenge. The two sprinted, neck-in-neck, having to think quickly to remember precisely which turns to turn to arrive at the kitchen. They ran hard, neither of them slowing down. At a point in the corridor where the turn went both left and right, Popo turned to the left while Nana turned to the right. _Smack!_ They collided painfully into one another and fell to the floor.

"Ow!" moaned Nana, giggling. Popo also laughed. They both plopped their heads to the floor tiredly, breathing in and out. All that running had worn them out.

Suddenly, Popo sat up. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Voices," replied Popo. He strained to listen, curious. There was a deep voice speaking somewhere in the distance, but Popo couldn't tell whom it belonged to. Nana also strained to hear it; it was muffled greatly by the distance.

"…if you tell anyone, you'll meet the same end, got it?" Popo and Nana could barely make out the words that were being spoken.

"The same end of who?" asked another voice.

"That birdbrain!" replied the first voice. It was extremely difficult to make out what the two voices were saying and was near impossible to know to whom the voices belonged. But at the word "birdbrain," Popo and Nana gasped. "Do they mean Falco?" Nana whispered; Popo shushed her.

"I w-won't tell, I s-swear," the second voice stammered.

"I'm entrusting you to keep it secret, and if you betray that trust…"

"I won't! I swear it!" said the other voice nervously.

"Good."

At that particular moment, Nana let out a rather astonishingly large sneeze. "A**-**_**CHOO!**_" It was so loud and came so unexpectedly, that it made Popo jump. Nana wiped her nose and stared wide-eyed in the direction of the voices, which had suddenly stopped conversing. She stood frozen as she heard footsteps hastening down the corridor and Popo jumped up, grabbed her, and broke into a frantic run. He sprinted—Nana in tow—dearly hoping that the people who had been talking did not see him or Nana. He ran, panicky, adrenaline rushing, and finally came to the door of their dormitory room. Swinging the door open, he leaped in and slammed it shut. He then let go of his grip on Nana and collapsed onto the ground, exhausted.

Fox looked at them oddly. "What have you two been doing?"

"Fox, we've gotta tell you something!" Nana said urgently.

"What? What is it?" The urgency in the Ice Climber's voice sparked interest in Fox.

"W—we heard—heard some p—people—" Popo gasped for breath.

"We heard some people talking about Falco!" Nana finished for him.

Fox's eyes grew wide. "Really? What did they say?" he asked, excited.

"Well, we—we think they were talking about Falco," said Popo, finally breathing almost normally. "But it didn't sound good. One guy said something about meeting the same end as 'birdbrain,' and it didn't sound like the other guy wanted to meet the birdbrain's end…"

"_End?!_" Fox repeated. A horrible thought occurred to him. "Does that mean he's…_dead?_" He gulped anxiously.

"I dunno…maybe," said Nana sadly.

Fox was frantic. He quickly got up from the bed and began pacing rapidly back and forth. "But…no, no way….There's no way he's…at least, I hope….Oh, I have to know!" Popo and Nana watched him worriedly as he paced, sincerely hoping that Falco was not dead.

"So he called Falco a birdbrain, huh?" Fox was deep in thought. "Isn't that what Bowser called him earlier?"

"I…I think so," Popo replied.

"So it was _him!_" An angry spark flickered in Fox's eye. "If he's done anything to Falco, I'm gonna kill him!"

He stomped across the room, out the door, and into the corridor. Immediately, Popo sprang up from the ground and rushed after him, followed by Nana. "Fox, no!" he cried.

"Why not?" Fox snapped, turning to face the Ice Climbers.

"Well, this guy sounded really serious," Popo explained.

"So?" Fox replied harshly.

"He sounded like he would do some awful, awful things," Nana said.

"I can take him!" Fox said, dismissing their worries. He again furiously started for Bowser's room.

"If he killed Falco, he might try to kill you!" Popo stated. Fox ignored him.

"Fox, please!" Nana cried, almost tearful. "Why don't you take it up with the Smash Announcer? Please, Fox."

Fox stopped and turned to look at them, but when he saw their pleading eyes, when he saw how little and how concerned they both were, he couldn't help but give in to them.

"Okay, okay," he said calmly. "I'll go see the Smash Announcer."

"Oh, thank you, Fox!" Nana and Popo were relieved. Bowser—or whoever it was that had been talking—had not sounded like he would give a second thought to hurting, maybe even killing. The Ice Climbers just hoped that they were wrong and that, perhaps, it was all a misunderstanding.


	5. Mr Smash Announcer

Fox was indignant. Outwardly, he appeared calm, but his insides burned with fury. The loathsome creature Bowser was the culprit; he was the one who was responsible for Falco's disappearance. Fox was sure of it. Grudgingly he followed the childish Ice Climbers to see the Smash Announcer. Reluctantly he turned corners and went through doors. He didn't want to see the Smash Announcer; he wanted to attack Bowser.

Neither he nor the Ice Climbers said a word throughout the entire perambulation through the corridors. Popo and Nana were worried. That mysterious voice had sounded so sinister. _Who had it been?_ It may have been Bowser….But then who did the other voice belong to? _The Smash Announcer will figure out,_ Popo assured himself. Nana agreed. The Smash Announcer always knew what to do during the last tournament…

Finally they arrived at the correct door. Popo and Nana both knocked on it.

"Who is it?" came the familiar booming voice that belonged to the Smash Announcer.

"It's the Ice Climbers and Fox," replied Popo.

"One moment, please." A few seconds passed by as they heard noisy bustling behind the door.

"Come in," the Smash Announcer boomed at last. Popo and Nana pushed the door open, and Fox followed them inside the room. It was dark. Very dark. So dark that Fox and the Ice Climbers could barely make out the shapes of each other. The door slammed shut behind them and the room grew pitch black. Now they could not see a thing.

"What do you need?" the Smash Announcer asked, not unkindly.

Popo and Nana were a bit startled from the completely blackness. They wondered, as they had many times before, why the Smash Announcer liked to be in the darkness.

"I—um—" Nana began coyly as Popo said quietly, "W-well, Mr. Smash Announcer, you see…." The pitch darkness and the Smash Announcer's booming voice were intimidating.

Fox sighed and spoke up. "There here with me, Mr. Smash Announcer," he said confidently.

"No need to be afraid, young ones," laughed the Announcer. "You know that I simply like the dark."

Popo and Nana both smiled sheepishly, forgetting that they could not be seen.

"What was it you were saying, Fox?" the Smash Announcer asked.

"Well," began Fox, "I've been wondering where Falco is for quite some time. He hasn't contacted me—or anyone I know—for a really long time. And Popo and Nana here were wandering the corridors and they overheard somebody talking…."

Nana nodded her head, still not remembering that she could not be seen. "He was telling another person not to tell some secret. The first person threatened the other person, saying that they'll meet the same end as the 'birdbrain.'"

"Yup," Popo confirmed.

There were a few moments of silence as the three waited for the Smash Announcer to respond.

"So, what you're saying is," said the Smash Announcer, clarifying, "that one, or two, of my fighters were plotting against Falco?"

"That's exactly what they're saying, Mr. Smash Announcer," replied Fox.

"Well, maybe," Popo corrected. "That's all we heard. We _think_ they were talking about Falco."

"Were you able to tell who these voices belonged to?"

"No, they were too far away," Nana replied.

"I think it was Bowser," Fox said.

"Why do you think that, young one?" the Smash Announcer asked. His voice sounded like it was deep in thought—at least, it sounded that way to Fox.

"Remember before we were assigned to our rooms, Bowser called Falco a birdbrain?"

"Yes, I do, but that does not prove anything," said the Smash Announcer reasonably. "There may be many envious people who call Falco that."

"But, sir—"

"I will look into the matter," the Smash Announcer's booming voice interrupted. "But I think you three are overreacting a bit. I do not think you have much to worry."

"Mr. Smash Announcer, the voice said something about meeting the same end as the 'birdbrain…'" Popo said.

"Who else could be the 'birdbrain' but Falco?" Fox asked, annoyed that the Smash Announcer was not taking them very seriously.

"It could be anyone," the Smash Announcer boomed calmly.

"It was Bowser! I—"

"As I said, I will look into the matter. Now you may go back to your dormitory room, and I forbid you to speak to or do anything to Bowser," said the Smash Announcer firmly.

Fox sighed vexedly. He knew it was no use arguing. Slowly, he turned around and felt for the door handle. He found it, pushed it open, and stepped out, followed by the Ice Climbers. In silence he begin the journey back to his room. He was irritated at the Ice Climbers for having suggested going to the Smash Announcer. Now he wasn't even allowed to question Bowser. If he disobeyed the orders, he might be sent home….The Ice Climbers sensed Fox's irritation with them. A tear trickled down Nana's face. She didn't like the idea of Fox being angry with her.

"Fox," she said sadly, "please don't be mad with us; we were only trying to help."

"I know," Fox sighed, letting go of his irritation. "I know. I appreciate it, guys."

"So what are we gonna do now?" Popo asked.

"Well, I guess I have to figure out who that voice was," Fox replied determinedly. "I may not be allowed to talk to Bowser, but I can question others about him."

"We'll help you, won't we, Popo?" Nana said.

"Yeah, we will!" Popo smiled and Fox smiled back.

"Thanks, you guys."

"We _will_ figure out what happened to Falco!" said Nana optimistically.

"I hope so," replied Fox.


	6. The Note

Hey guys, thanks for the reviews!!! Sorry this is kind of a short chapter…I kinda meant for it to be combined with the last one. Hope you like!

As they headed back for the dorm room, Nana was overcome with a strange feeling—like they were being followed. Nana thought that she heard something, but when she turned her head to look at what had made the sound, nothing appeared to be there.

"Do you hear that?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"I didn't hear anything," Fox replied.

"You must just be tired," Popo added dismissively. "Maybe we should go to bed."

Nana didn't argue, but she could not shake the ominous feeling. The feeling engulfed her, and caused her to become anxious. She was quite sure that someone—or something—was following them. She again attempted to speak to her cohorts.

"Did you hear _that_?"

"No, Nana," Fox replied, somewhat irritated. He had a lot on his mind right now. As did Popo. Popo was not paying much attention to his surroundings; he was preoccupied with thoughts of Falco and of that mysterious voice.

"Popo, did _you_ hear it?" Nana asked hopefully.

"Huh?" Popo replied distractedly.

"Did you hear something?"

"Oh. No," Popo replied simply.

Nana was relieved when the trio arrived back at the dorm room. She took one last look behind her, and—seeing nothing—she followed Fox and Popo into the room and slammed the door shut. The sinking, ominous feeling left her and she found herself to be very tired. She sauntered to the bunk bed and plopped down, falling asleep almost instantly.

"Wow," said Fox. "It always takes me at least five minutes to get to sleep."

Popo giggled sleepily. He too was tired. "I think I'm gonna go to bed."

"Yeah, okay," Fox replied. He watched as the tiny Ice Climber made his way to the top of the bunk bed. Fox turned his head towards his own bed and was surprised to see something on it, something that he hadn't put on it. It was a small piece of paper. Fox rushed over and snatched it up. It read:

I have your friend. If you ever want to see him again, you won't mention that conversation that you overheard to anyone. You will also win the fight tomorrow against Donkey Kong, Pikachu, and Link. At all costs.

The note was not signed. Fox gazed at it worriedly. He wondered, exactly, what it meant. How did the person know that his conversation had been overheard? Why did he want Fox to win against Donkey Kong, Pikachu, and Link? _At all costs…_

Fox suddenly breathed a sigh of relief as he realized that his meant that Falco was not dead. But it also meant that if Fox did not comply, the culprit might very well kill Falco.

The wearied Fox sat down on his bed. He had to win tomorrow's battle, he _had _to. Falco's life might be at stake.


	7. Victory or Loss

Hey, so here's my first battle!!! I've never written anything like this before, so I don't know if it's good or not. If you all like it, I will probably write some more later.

* * *

_"All fighters for this round, please make way to the Smash Locker immediately!"_

Fox gulped nervously. The knot that had been in his stomach all morning tightened viciously. What if he lost? What would happen to Falco? He tried not to think about it. He needed to push those thoughts out of his mind. He needed to win this. He was already at the Smash Locker; Donkey Kong, Link, and Pikachu entered in merely seconds. Fox tried not to meet their gaze—especially Donkey Kong's. He just wanted to get this over with. He enjoyed these fights when he fought for fun or for money…not when he fought for possibly his best friend's life.

"Welcome, fighters!" boomed the unseen Smash Announcer. "You have all been here before; I trust you do not need me to tell you the rules?" No one said anything. "Good! The stock for this match is three. Will you please step onto the stage."

Nervously, shakily, Fox followed his competitors out of the Locker and onto the floating platform that would take them to their stage. It instantly _whoosh_ed them to the new Battlefield stage. Instead of dark and menacing, as it had been in Melee, this Battlefield was bright and somewhat inviting. A small rush of relief came over Fox. At least it was a simple stage…

The four fighters leaped off the floating platform and took their places in the Battlefield. Fox took his place on the top pass-through platform. His teeth were chattering; his knees were knocking. He could not mess this up.

_"Three…two…one…GO!"_

Fox jumped away to another pass-through platform as Link leaped up toward him with his sword, attempting to strike. Fox jumped and kicked Link in midair; then shot Link several times with his blaster. He turned his head to the side. Pikachu and Donkey Kong were duking it out; Fox didn't have to worry about them at the moment. He again turned his attention back to Link, who was pulling back his bow. _Twang!_ Fox put up his deflector just in time to send the arrow back at Link. Fox charged toward him and attempted a kick, but Link jumped out of the way and slashed him with his sword.

Fox fell to the ground. Quickly, he leaped up and barreled down upon Link. Link recovered rapidly, shooting up from the ground. He tossed his boomerang at Fox, who could not dodge in time. The boomerang smacked him in the stomach, and while he was recuperating, Link let out a strong slash with his sword that sent Fox flying. Away from the stage he flew. Desperately Fox attempted to access his fire Fox attack, but was too late. Down, down he fell until he was caught by a floating platform. It carried him back to the stage; he had lost one of his stocks.

Dismayed at already having lost one of his chances, Fox stayed in the floating platform for a few moments, watching the three others fight. They were immensely better than they had been during the last tournament. He watched as Pikachu rolled out of the way of Donkey Kong's frighteningly massive punch; he watched as Link joined the fray but was quickly shocked away by Pikachu. He watched, and fear once again gripped his heart. He had to win this…He had to.

The floating platform disappeared and Fox fell to the top pass-through platform, above the other three contenders. As he passed through it, Donkey Kong let out a loud _whack_, and Pikachu went soaring off the stage and into oblivion. Fox fell between Link and Donkey Kong and did a splits-kick, knocking both of them away from him. Before Donkey Kong could recover, Fox rushed over to him and smash-kicked him off the stage. The ape managed to spin back onto the stage as Link attempted to slice Fox in the back. Fox anticipated this and did a quick roll-dodge away from the green-clad man. He then did a powerful smash-kick and watched triumphantly as Link soared away, unable to make it back on.

Fox suddenly felt a jolt and fell over. Pikachu charged up a powerful shock that zapped him off the stage; he made it back easily with his fire Fox attack. He smash-kicked Pikachu upwards and kicked him in midair. Pikachu charged up a skull bash that narrowly missed Falco. Pikachu called thunder down from the heavens and Fox got hit as he attempted to kick Pikachu. _Man, I hate that attack,_ he thought bitterly. Recovering, he swung a kick at Pikachu, but missed as the pocket monster roll-dodged. Fox suddenly heard a sound…a horribly familiar sound….

_"Snorla-a-a-ax!"_

Link had thrown a Pokéball, and it had been Snorlax. Fox attempted dodging, but found no place to go as Snorlax's fat mass plummeted down upon him and Pikachu.

The battle raged on. It was kick after kick, punch after punch, blast after blast. Jump, kick, smash, shock. The score remained maddeningly even throughout the entire match. At last all four of them were down to one stock. Fox was hurt fairly badly, but he knew he could not lose. Falco needed him. As both Donkey Kong and Pikachu came upon him from opposite directions, he launched himself into the air just in time, causing the two to hit each other instead. Pikachu flew off the stage with no hope of return.

"Player four defeated!" boomed the Smash Announcer.

Fox looked down from above as Donkey Kong swung his arm at Link, and Link also was knocked off the stage for the final time.

"Player two defeated!"

This was it. Just Fox and Donkey Kong. Fox tensed up determinedly. He had an advantage over the humongous ape: Fox was immensely faster. He decided to take advantage of his speed and ran towards the ape, dash-kicking him before he had time to react. This, however, did not affect Donkey Kong much. The gargantuan grasped Fox and attempted to throw him off the edge of the stage. Fox ignited his fire Fox attack, burning Donkey Kong. Then Fox saw it out of the corner of his eye: a beam sword. Gasping, he sprinted to it, picked it up, and chucked it as hard as he could at Donkey Kong. The ape was knocked back, off the stage and, though he attempted spinning back on, he fell down to his loss.

"Player one defeated!"

Before Fox had time to think, the floating platform came and scooped him up high for all the audience to see.

"This game's winner is…Fox!" boomed the Smash Announcer. Fox smiled triumphantly and sighed, relieved. He had done it. He had won. Falco was not going to die.

He did not pay much attention to all the people cheering as the floating platform took him to the Smash Locker. He was so immensely relieved that he barely heard the Smash Announcer saying, "Great show, Fox!" or Link saying, "Awesome battle!" or Pikachu saying, "Pika, pika!" He smiled, but did not really pay attention to the congratulations and questions of the people as he emerged from the Locker.

Later, Fox finally collapsed onto his dorm bed. He was exhausted. He felt something papery on his bed and sat up, noticing that it was another note. It read:

Well done, Fox. Your friend will be spared…for now. However, if you want to keep him alive, you are still going to have to keep quiet. And you are going to have to win every match. If you do not, you can say goodbye to your precious friend forever.

Fox sighed wearily and lay back down. Who was this person?


End file.
